Gems worth reading
January 1
"The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him." (Psalm 25:14)
I am not competent to discern the will of God if I am not with Him. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him." I have to be before God Himself, or else I shall never keep straight; and for that, I must be in the path of God for Him to lead me. I cannot realize God's presence out of the path of His will. The instant I lose the sense of dependence, I am in danger. Obedience and dependence are the two living principles of the new man. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4) (J.N. Darby)
N.J. Hiebert # 3573
January 2
"Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." (Psalm 51:5)
The unconverted sinner sins constantly. Every act, word, and deed springs from a defiled source. We are conceived in sin and shapen in iniquity. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jeremiah 17:9). It is a corrupt fountain from which a stream of sin flows continually. And that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and remains flesh to the end (John 3:6). And "the carnal mind" (or the minding of the flesh) "is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." (Romans 8:7).
But God in His great love to us gave His Son. Jesus the Lamb of God died on Calvary, glorified God, broke Satan's power, and bore the judgment of sin. God raised Him from the dead, and gave Him glory, thereby showing His perfect satisfaction in His finished work. On the ground of that work all who believe are pardoned, justified, reconciled, saved - the children of God.
"Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons (children) of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is." (1 John 3:1,2)
(E.H.C.)
N.J. Hiebert # 3574
